At the last
hearing, Judge Cormac Dunne granted bail in Mr O’Brien’s own bond
of €500 with no cash lodgement required.

Conditions were
that he signs on at Terenure Garda Station between 9am and 9pm
every Wednesday.

He is also to
reside at his home address and surrender his passport to
Gardai.

Det Garda
Maloney confirmed that there were no concerns that the accused
would not appear for his trial.

He said a lot
of people had been interviewed as part of the investigation and
asked that Mr O'Brien should not have any contact with
them.

Judge Dune said
this was an “intrinsic” part of bail.

ANON Jul 30th, 2015 @ 09:53 AM

Cyril Smith M1 child abuse probe closes over lack of
evidence…

A probe into claims the former Rochdale MP Cyril Smith was found
with child abuse images in his car boot has been closed because of
a lack of evidence.

It is understood the Liberal MP, who died in 2010, was stopped on
the M1 in Northamptonshire during the 1980s.

He was then released after making a telephone call to an
unidentified third party in London, it has been claimed.

Northamptonshire Police said no witnesses had been found and no
reports of the alleged incident were uncovered.

Five people who came forward to help the investigation offered
third-party accounts that could not be used as evidence, police
said.

The claims surfaced in a book on Smith written by current Rochdale
MP, Labour's Simon Danczuk.

He said the politician, who was the Liberal and then Liberal
Democrat MP for Rochdale between 1972 and 1992, was arrested, but
the material seized by police had disappeared.

Detectives said they interviewed Mr Danczuk, two former chief
constables, about 60 police staff, journalist Don Hale who has
written extensively about Smith, and several members of the
public.

Northamptonshire Police said Special Branch "had undertaken a
manual trawl of their archives" and the Crown Prosecution Service
had also searched its archives "for relevant information" but had
found nothing.

"To date, no witness has been found who saw Smith in custody or was
involved in his arrest and no reports of the alleged incident have
been uncovered," a statement said.

"Furthermore, no witnesses have been found from Special Branch or
any other senior influence, while a primary witness a canteen
worker mentioned in the book cannot be identified."

The force said the cold case would be reopened if more information
came to light.

Northamptonshire Police previously said in response to a Freedom of
Information request that laws linked to security services prevented
it from divulging information it held on Smith.

That triggered speculation that records on the late MP may have
been destroyed by or at the request of security services.

A number of men have told Greater Manchester Police they were
abused by Smith, whose family has always denied claims of
abuse.

The State Claims Agency has identified 210 cases of alleged child
sexual abuse in schools, which are eligible for compensation under
a Department of Education recompense scheme.

Each individual can apply for a maximum ex-gratia payment of
€84,000, leaving the State with a liability of up to €17.6
million.

The scheme was set-up after Louise O’Keeffe won her case in the
European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in January 2014 after a
20-year legal struggle.

It ruled that the state was liable for abuse carried out by her
teacher Leo Hickey at Dunderrow National School in west Cork in the
1970s.

Ms O’Keeffe and other abuse survivors have strongly criticised the
scope of the compensation scheme, accusing the state of failing to
accept its legal responsibility.

Survivors of abuse can qualify only where it is shown that the
school authorities failed to take action in response to a complaint
of abuse.

The scheme will also only apply to abuse that took place prior to
1991, when child protection measures were introduced, subject to
the statute of limitations.

Some 45 cases against the State were outstanding in 2014, while a
further 90 were withdrawn after the department threatened to pursue
them for legal costs.

Last December, applicants were asked to come forward again,
producing the updated total of 210 cases.

The department indicated that this would be the upper limit, saying
“it is expected that there will be cases that will not satisfy the
criteria”.

ANON Jul 29th, 2015 @ 11:28 AM

2/2...The maximum settlement payment is based on Ms O’Keeffe’s
award of €30,000 from the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR),
combined with the €54,000 she received from Criminal Inquiries
Compensation Tribunal.

A “specified amount” for legal costs will also be paid.

Ms O’Keeffe has criticised the scale of the offer, saying the
€30,000 award from the ECHR “wasn’t compensation for sexual abuse;
it was compensation for the lack of protection for me as a child in
a national school”.

While the payment figure was agreed last December, Minister for
Education Jan O’Sullivan said the Government had now formally
approved the package and the relevant conditions.

An updated action plan has also been lodged with the ECHR to comply
with its judgement.

Ms O’Sullivan said: “While there is no legal obligation on the
State to address the situation of these survivors, I believe that
the approach adopted is fair and balanced in addressing the
position of these survivors.”

The Minister added that in making these ex-gratia offers the state
was not covering the liability of the perpetrators, school patrons
or other co-defendants.

She pointed out that in the O’Keeffe case, no claim was made
against the school manager or patron.

The Minister re-iterated her apology “to all those who were
sexually abused as school children for the horrific abuse which was
inflicted upon them, and for our collective failure to protect
them”.

ANON Jul 29th, 2015 @ 11:25 AM

Chelfham Mill School Barnstaple shut in physical abuse
inquiry…

A residential school for boys with emotional and behavioural
problems has been temporarily closed while police investigate
physical abuse claims.

The principal of Chelfham Mill in Barnstaple said it would stay
shut for at least six weeks, and Ofsted has suspended its
registration to operate.

The privately-run school provides residential and day care for 41
pupils aged seven to 18.
Chelfham Mill normally provides some day care during the
summer.

Councils have been instructed by Ofsted to find alternative
provisions for boys in their care while the investigation takes
place, and parents have been informed of the situation.

In a statement, Devon and Cornwall Police said they were "working
closely with partner organisations including social services as
this investigation takes place".

The principal of the school, Katy Roberts, said: "The school has
been closed for an initial period of six weeks pending
investigation by an external agency, but I can assure you I am
committed to supporting the investigation process."

An Ofsted spokesperson said: "Ofsted has suspended the registration
of the setting pending further inquiries - this will be kept under
review as the investigation continues."

The regulator's latest report on Chelfham Mill, in February 2015,
found young people were not being adequately safeguarded and the
school had "declined in effectiveness."

"The senior leadership team are not successfully managing this
home," it said.

The school's "mission statement" is to "provide a secure, caring
environment in which each boy can realise his full educational and
social capabilities and become a better adjusted individual ready
to cope successfully with life's demands"

ANON Jul 29th, 2015 @ 11:23 AM

Patrick Toal is jailed for sex abuse of two members of the same
family…

A Belfast pensioner who sexually abused two members of the same
family has been given an extended 12 year sentence.

Patrick Toal, formerly of Tollgate House in Bradbury Place, was
found guilty by a jury earlier this year of 29 separate counts of
sexually abusing his partner's daughter, and her
grand-daughter.

The abuse spanned a period of 19 years.

The 71-year-old, who maintains his innocence, was sentenced at
Belfast Crown Court on Tuesday.

Telling Toal that he was being handed an extended sentence for the
protection of the public, the judge said that after the pensioner
has served half his sentence, his release date will then be
determined by the Paroles Commission.

In addition to the prison sentence, Toal will spend a further three
years on licence when he is released from custody.

He was also made the subject of a Sexual Offences Prevention Order
(SOPO) for an indefinite period.

The judge said that Toal's actions had left both of his victims
suffering from post traumatic stress disorder.

He said Toal preyed on the women when they were vulnerable young
girls and that grooming was involved.

The judge said Toal had displayed no insight into the significant
harm he had caused to both women.

ANON Jul 29th, 2015 @ 11:18 AM

1/2...Toddler taken into care over fears she could be hurt by
abuse victim Mum…

The daughter of a woman in Northern Ireland whose mind "shattered"
into multiple personalities after being sexually abused in her own
childhood is to be taken into care, a High Court judge has
ordered.

Mr Justice O'Hara ruled that the step was necessary due to the real
and serious risk of harm to the two-year-old girl as her mother
switches from one identity to another.

In one episode last year the woman, referred to as 'P', tried to
hang herself while she was looking after her child, identified only
as 'M'.

Deciding such interference with their human rights was unavoidable,
the judge set out how the little girl would find it emotionally
confusing to see her mother's personality alter between that of a
four-year-old, a teenager and a woman in her twenties.

He said: "This is not a fanciful description of what can happen it
is the reality of P's life, caused overwhelmingly by the sordid
conduct and abuse by others which leaves her in my judgment, for
the present at least, unable to care for M."

Although now separated from M's father, she is again pregnant by
him.
In December last year a health and social care trust involved in
the case removed the girl from P after she attempted suicide.

After that intervention it went to court seeking a care order for
M.

The application was opposed by P, who argued it was wrong to
deprive the child of the care of a mother who has never hurt
her.

However, M's father backed proposals for his mother and stepfather
to become her primary carers. Assessments by experts in personality
disorders agreed that P is deeply affected by her psychiatric
condition.

ANON Jul 29th, 2015 @ 11:16 AM

2/2...One psychologist concluded that her disorder is the
product of severe, recurrent childhood trauma at the hands of a
number of sexual abusers, the court heard.

In a newly published judgment, Mr Justice O'Hara said: "In an
effort to cope with this abuse her mind has shattered into
fragmented states or personalities."

She can suffer amnesia and switch from one identity to another with
regularity. To cope, P has tried to develop a pattern of leaving
notes for the next personality to be informed by. Some of her
identities can be girls under 10 or teenagers with different
behaviour patterns.

Therapeutic intervention would take a minimum of five years,
according to experts.

Even then, some patients do not revert to a single
personality.

Despite the fact M has never been physically harmed by her mother,
a psychologist was clear that she is at significant risk.

She emphasised that nobody knows what goes on in P's mind as she
switches between personalities. The possibility of P being
contacted by one of her abusers was said to be a major
concern.

Mr Justice O'Hara said: "Sadly, within her evidence she herself
expressed exactly what the problem is without realising it when she
said M 'has five personalities as main carers and all are very
unified for her'.

"I do not suggest that she would deliberately harm M physically,
but there is a clear and substantial risk of such harm as she
switches from one identity or alters to another one such as a child
under 10."

He also directed that mother and daughter should at first continue
to have weekly contact.

He said: "I find that a reduction to less than once per week would
be an excessive and unjustified interference with the rights of
this family."

ANON Jul 28th, 2015 @ 04:46 PM

Former Christian Brother jailed for indecent assault…

A former Christian Brother at the North Monastery secondary school
in Cork has been sentenced to two concurrent one-year jail terms
for indecently assaulting two boys.

Edward Bryan, 62, of Martinvilla, Athboy Road, Trim, Co Meath,
pleaded guilty to two charges; one relating to a schoolboy at the
North Monastery secondary school in Cork between September 1979 and
June 1981 and the other relating to another boy at the school in
September 1986.

He left the Brothers in 1994 and took up a position at Oberstown
detention centre for juvenile offenders.

Judge Seán Ó Donnabháin said: "Edward Bryan has pleaded guilty to
counts of indecent assault on two young boys when he was a teacher
in a school here in the city. He was in a position of
authority.

He abused that trust in authority.

"A significant difference is his present attitude and the fact that
he has pleaded guilty.

That to me is a huge change and a change for the better."

Detective Sergeant Vincent O’Sullivan outlined the background to
the sexual assaults in the 1980s.

Both of the young teenagers were being coached after school in
sports when the crimes were committed.

Defence barrister Brendan Kelly said: "He has instructed me to
apologise profusely to the victims for any harm caused to them over
the years.

He apologises to his family and to the Order for any disrepute he
has brought to them."

Bryan was not in Cork Circuit Criminal Court last month for
sentencing as the prosecution said he had made a suicide attempt at
his home.

One of the victims did not want his victim impact statement read
openly in court and it was handed in to the judge yesterday.

The other injured party stated last month: "I have carried around
the shame of his sexual abuse for my entire adult life, never
addressing it and always shutting it away from my memories out of
embarrassment.

"I suppose I would say that you have stolen a moment of my life
that I can never have back."

Judith Fuller, 32, Denise Barnes, 34, and Kathleen Adams, 84, all
from Norwich, were cleared of all charges.

Marie Black's defence was that she was the victim of a terrible
combination of circumstances

Black sobbed uncontrollably in the dock as the verdicts were
delivered.
Opening the trial, prosecutor Angela Rafferty QC said Black,
previously known as Marie Adams, played an instrumental role in
using the five children as "sexual playthings".

ANON Jul 28th, 2015 @ 09:06 AM

2/2..Abused at parties…

The abuse, which is said to have happened in and around Norwich and
London, included forcing the children to have sex with one
another.

On some occasions, the adults threw parties and played card games
to decide who would abuse which child, Mrs Rafferty said.

In interviews the victims described how they were abused in front
of one another and other adults.

Some of the abuse involved children's toys, including Barbie
dolls.

All of the defendants denied abusing the children, saying it simply
did not happen.

During the trial it emerged police had launched an investigation
into the conduct of one agency social worker involved in the
case.

The court heard that the trial had originally been due to start
last year only to be delayed when prosecutors raised concerns over
changes made by social workers to statements taken from the
children.

This resulted in Norfolk Police launching an investigation into
anomalies in documents. Prosecutors decided no action should be
taken, Norfolk Police said after the trial.

A police spokeswoman added: "There was no wrongdoing found on the
part of the council."

Sheila Lock, interim executive director of children's services at
Norfolk County Council, said: "The victims in this case have shown
tremendous courage in speaking out.

"The needs of the children, who were central to the prosecution
case, have always been at the fore of our minds and have been the
main focus of all of the agencies involved.

"Our priority continues to be the children in this case who,
despite the ordeal they have been through, are now doing well and
are safe from harm."

Deanna Neilson, head of safeguarding at Action for Children, said:
"This appalling case reveals the premeditated and organised
approach some people take to abusing children.

"We cannot lose sight of the needs of the children who suffered at
their hands, even though the abuse has stopped.

"Children must be supported, and in some cases receive therapy, to
ensure they are armed with the confidence and knowledge they need
to recover from this trauma."

ANON Jul 27th, 2015 @ 06:32 PM

1/2...Mixed reaction to new draft adoption legislation…

There has been a mixed reaction from adoptees' advocacy groups to
Government plans to give adopted people a statutory right to
information about their birth parents.

People receiving such information would have to agree to not
attempt to contact their natural parents, either directly or
indirectly.

Today's Government initiative has its roots in the outcry sparked
by last year's discovery of the graves of some of the almost 800
children who died in Tuam's mother and baby home.

Adoptees from such homes, and others, stepped up their efforts to
vindicate their right to their identities.

This afternoon, Minister for Children and Youth Affairs James
Reilly unveiled the draft Adoption Information and Tracing
legislation.

It provides for a presumption that adoptees' birth certificates -
which identify the birth-mother can be issued unless a birth parent
can provide compelling reasons, such as a possible endangerment to
life, that would result from its release.

The person receiving the information would have to sign a statutory
declaration to respect the privacy of the birth parent and not to
try to contact them directly or indirectly.

ANON Jul 27th, 2015 @ 06:31 PM

2/2...Dr Reilly descirbed the draft legislatrion as a major
breakthrough on dealing with a statutory entitlement to identity
information for adopted people.

He said sufficient safeguards exist in the bill to ensure birth
parents’ constitutional right to privacy is protected.

The Child and Family Agency, Tusla, will establish an Adoption
Information Register on which adoptees, birth parents or relatives
wishing to have contact can apply to have their details
recorded.

Other information, for example on medical history, would only be
released with the consent of both parties.

With a general election at most six months away, today's bill is
unlikely to be passed by the current Government.

If a future Oireachtas passes the proposed law, there would be a
period of one year before it was fully implemented to allow for an
awareness campaign to urge birth mothers to register their wish to
be or not to be contacted.

Susan Lohan of the Adopition Rights Alliance said she has great
expectations of today's briefing, but that the minister Reilly did
not describe important detail on how to apply for birth certs and
information from files and the time scales on which to expect the
specifics.

She told RTÉ’s Six One that despite the children’s minister’s best
intentions, very important information on how to apply and how long
it will take was not detailed.
Ms Lohan said that she is also concerned Tusla will not have the
resources to deal with the arrangement.

Inspiration behind Hollywood film was speaking at commemoration in
Roscrea…
Kathryn Hayes

Philomena Lee, whose devotion to finding her adopted son inspired a
Hollywood film, said she would welcome the Government’s proposed
Adoption Bill provided it allows adopted children full access to
their identity.

Speaking at an event commemorating former residents of the Sean
Ross Abbey mother-and-baby home, in Roscrea, Co Tipperary, where
her son Anthony is buried, Ms Lee (82) said Ireland needs to move
to a more open adoption system similar to the UK.

“Of course I would welcome change,” she said. “It’s not about
bothering people that don’t want to be bothered; it’s about getting
your identity, and you would welcome that change.”

Ms Lee, who lives in St Alban’s in the UK, travelled to Roscrea
with family members, including her daughter Jane Libberton, who
discovered her brother Anthony’s headstone at Sean Ross Abbey
during research on the family.

“If I went looking for my mother and she didn’t want to know me, I
would understand that and I would accept that but at least I would
know who I was, and there may be aunts and uncles and brothers and
sisters who do want to know,” Ms Libberton said.

Speaking at the ceremony, Susan Lohan of the Adoption Rights
Alliance said Ms Lee’s story sets a “wonderful example for
everybody in the country who would have us believe that natural
parents do not want contact with their children or that their
children do not want contact with them”.

“There are people in Leinster House who would have us believe that
natural mothers do not want contact with the children that they
lost to adoption, that they are somehow afraid of those children,”
Ms Lohan said.

She said the details of the Adoption Bill, due to be published
soon, do not “give us much hope”.

After a minute’s silence, 100 white balloons representing the
“innocence and loss” of all the children who were born and died in
Sean Ross Abbey were released into the air by more than 100 people
gathered for the ceremony

ANON Jul 27th, 2015 @ 12:08 PM

Cardiff University creates child abuse test for doctors…

A test to help doctors determine if children's injuries resulted
from abuse has been developed by Cardiff University.

The university's School of Medicine created a diagnostic
"checklist" to identify the likelihood of abusive head trauma
(AHT).

The university said the test could play "an important role" in
recognising "life
threatening abuse".

Such trauma - also known as "shaken baby syndrome" is believed to
be the leading cause of death among abused children.

Estimates suggest as many as 34 in every 100,000 infants under the
age of one fall victim to AHT but experts believe many cases are
missed.

Cardiff University's test, detailed in a paper published on Monday,
applies to head injuries suffered by children aged two and
under.

Prof Alison Kemp of Cardiff University said: "This study offers an
evidence-based clinical prediction tool to help doctors make these
extremely important decisions, where the life or death of a child
often hangs in the balance."

The checklist also includes the presence of long-bone fractures,
suspended breathing and head or neck bruising.

If doctors identify three or more of the six items on the list and
there is no clear accidental trigger, then abuse is a "very likely
cause", according to researchers.

However, further investigation by clinicians and child protection
professionals is required before AHT can be confirmed.

ANON Jul 26th, 2015 @ 11:08 AM

1/2...Abused Boys 'Playthings For Powerful People'…

A survivor of the Kincora Children's home has told Sky News he
believes paperwork in Westminster will show Government complicity
in child abuse in Northern Ireland.

Clint Massey, 57, was a teenager when he was moved into the now
notorious home in east Belfast.

He suffered at the hands of staff at the home but also saw the many
mysterious English men with posh accents who were regular visitors
to the building.

Allegations have existed for years that senior figures within the
security services, British military and other VIPs had free reign
to sexually abuse children at the home in the 1970s and
1980s.

Mr Massey told Sky News: "I see it as one of the most shameful
episodes in Northern Ireland's history. Nobody should think
otherwise."

"Young boys from troubled backgrounds who were just put in there to
be playthings for powerful people, somebody has to answer for
that."

The Kincora home was named in the latest paperwork released from
Westminster that shows there were Government files held on the
institution and further letters concerning key figures within
Northern Ireland at the time.

All of the files are relevant to the ongoing child abuse inquiries
but the contents have not yet been published.

David Cameron has said police should be able to investigate child
abuse allegations against high-profile politicians "without fear or
uncertainty" of how high up in Government they can go.

ANON Jul 26th, 2015 @ 11:06 AM

2/2...Mr Massey said he was convinced that paperwork will
eventually show some kind of agreement or knowledge of what was
going on:

He said: "There is a file somewhere with Whitehall saying 'yes go
ahead'."

There have also been repeated calls for the Kincora scandal to be
incorporated into the Child Abuse Inquiry for England and Wales led
by New Zealand judge Lowell Goddard.

Mr Massey added: "The local inquiry here in Northern Ireland
doesn't have the bite to it they (Goddard) can command, they can
order people to appear, they can order files to be released to
them.

"If they give that lady a free hand there will be people in the
House of Lords shaking in their cloaks."

Patrick Corrigan, of Amnesty International in Northern Ireland,
told Sky News: "We think it’s time to end that fog that exists
around Kincora and to find out were the security services involved
in allowing the abuse of children for their own intelligence
gathering purposes?

"That would be perhaps the dirtiest episode of a very dirty war but
it’s time for the truth to finally come out."

Justice Goddard's abuse inquiry that is now underway will examine
institutions in England and Wales but she has promised that if
there are other relevant institutions they will be looked at.

Her inquiry is likely to run for five years.

ANON Jul 25th, 2015 @ 11:01 AM

FGM victims 'in every part of England and Wales'…

Victims of female genital mutilation are likely to be living in
every area of England and Wales, a report says.

FGM victims tend to be concentrated in cities, especially London,
but no local authority area is "likely to be free from FGM
entirely", City University London and Equality Now found.

FGM, sometimes called female circumcision, refers to procedures
including the partial or total removal of external female genital
organs for non-medical reasons. It is illegal in the UK.

The NHS says FGM is prevalent in Africa, the Middle East and Asia,
and is carried out for "cultural, religious and social reasons". It
can cause issues including severe pain, infections, pregnancy
complications and even death.

To reach their estimates, researchers combined responses to surveys
in countries where FGM is practised with 2011 UK census data about
women who were born in those countries.

§ an estimated 137,000 women living in England and Wales (0.48 of
the female population) were born in countries where FGM was
practised and had been subject to it themselves

§ this included 103,000 women aged 15-49

§ in 2001, the estimated figure for women aged 15-49 was
66,000

§ this increase was "especially due to migration from countries in
conflict"

§ women with FGM made up an estimated 1.5% of mothers giving birth
in England and Wales since 2008

Mary Wandia, FGM programme manager at Equality Now, a human rights
organisation, said: "We hope that policy makers at all levels -
including in local authorities - urgently respond to these new
estimates."

She said this response should include prevention, support for
survivors and other measures to ensure work was "joined up and
effective at every level".

Report author Prof Alison Macfarlane, of City University London,
said: "It is important not to stigmatise women who have undergone
FGM, or assume that their daughters are all at risk, as many
families have given up FGM on migration and attitudes have changed
in some of their countries of origin.

"On the other hand, others may have not given up FGM and it is
important to safeguard their daughters."

The report does not address the issue of FGM being carried out in
the UK, but separate research has estimated that 65,000 girls under
the age of 13 are "at risk"

ANON Jul 25th, 2015 @ 10:52 AM

Aylesbury child sex abuse: Barnardo's raised fears in
2008…

Concerns about a girl repeatedly abused by a gang of men in
Buckinghamshire were raised by a charity several years before the
perpetrators were arrested, it has emerged.

Barnardo's told the BBC it had worked with the ring's two victims
in 2008 and referred the case of one to the local authority and
other relevant agencies.

The charity's Michelle Lee-Izu said "insufficient action" was
taken.

Six men were found guilty on Friday of abuse on a "massive
scale".

The Old Bailey heard the abuse in Aylesbury went on for years and
involved rape and child prostitution.

The court heard evidence from both victims, who came from troubled
backgrounds and were befriended by the men who gave them alcohol,
DVDs, food and occasionally drugs.

While aged just 12 or 13, one of the vulnerable girls, known in the
trial as A, was passed between 60 mainly Asian men for sex after
being conditioned into thinking it was normal behaviour, jurors
were told.

Ms Lee-Izu, a lead director for child sexual exploitation, told BBC
Radio 4's Today programme: "In 2008, we worked with both these
young people and our work with these young women was very specific
to them as individuals.

"We had concerns about the safety of one young woman and we made a
referral to the local authority and the relevant agencies.

"At that time the agencies didn't respond in a way that we wanted,
that we expected them to, although some actions were taken by the
local authority so we escalated those actions further.

"But insufficient action was taken as far as we were
concerned."

ANON Jul 25th, 2015 @ 10:50 AM

2/2...Eleven defendants faced trial, accused of 47 sexual
offences between 2006 and 2012 following an investigation launched
in 2013.

Four were cleared of any wrongdoing, while the jury could not reach
a verdict on one of the men.

The six who have been convicted will be sentenced in
September.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme on Saturday, David
Johnston, director for children's services at Buckinghamshire
County Council since 2014, said a review of the concerns raised by
Barnardo's would be carried out to discover what happened and what
action was taken.

He said: "Workers at the time missed a number of opportunities to
perhaps protect them [the girls] or to provide other services for
them.

Having said that, we know a great deal more about child sexual
exploitation and grooming now than we did back then.

"Over the time I have been in the post, we have reviewed a lot of
practices."

He added: "Today, evidence of unhappiness shown by behaviour such
as school homework standards falling and running away instead of
being monitored as in the past, it is now investigated for
motivation.

"More specialists are now working with local authorities and the
police to build up knowledge of child exploitation to protect young
people and those working with them."

On Friday, Mr Johnston apologised on behalf of Buckinghamshire
County Council for "letting [the girls} down during this period in
their lives".

He said: "We know a great deal more about child sexual exploitation
than we did back then and I hope that young people who are worried
about themselves or someone they know will have the same courage to
come forward.

We will do everything in our power to help them.

ANON Jul 25th, 2015 @ 10:47 AM

UK child abuse inquiry must look at Kincora…

The Kincora sex scandal has been in the public domain for almost 40
years and still the young boys who were abused there have been
denied full justice.

No one still believes that the three staff members at the east
Belfast home who were jailed in 1981 for crimes against 11
youngsters were the only abusers.

In fact, they might now be viewed as the scapegoats for a much
wider paedophile ring that reaches into the higher echelons of the
British Establishment.

Recently released papers from the Home Office show that allegations
by a former intelligence officer who served in Northern Ireland
that the Kincora scandal had been hushed up by the intelligence
services of the time had been known and noted at the very heart of
the Westminster Government.

The papers also mention by name Sir Maurice Oldfield, head of both
MI5 and MI6 security agencies, who a boy abused at the home now
says he remembers meeting there.

Others mentioned in the papers include two former Government
ministers, a former civil servant and a former diplomat.

Other allegations which have surfaced recently include claims that
boys were taken from the home to residences in England where they
were abused before being flown back to Northern Ireland.

All these allegations have yet to be tested, never mind proved, but
such is the persistence of the claims and the range of people
making them, there is no doubt that they must be thoroughly
examined.

It is unpardonable that the boys who were abused at the home are
still in something of a legal limbo as regards obtaining justice
.

Given the range of the allegations, it would seem that the inquiry
into historic child abuse in the UK headed by Justice Lowell
Goddard is the best forum to investigate the claims. It has the
power to compel witnesses from within the Establishment and its
agencies to appear before it.

The fact that Government ministers including Home Secretary Theresa
May and Secretary of State Theresa Villiers have both refused to
allow the Kincora scandal to be included in the UK probe only
heightens public disquiet about the whole issue.

That is not to doubt that the local Historical Abuse Inquiry headed
by Sir Anthony Hart will conduct a thorough probe, but it is
hampered by its restricted powers.

The Government must change its decision.

ANON Jul 24th, 2015 @ 12:33 PM

1/2...Garda ‘failed in duty’ to properly handle Cloyne abuse
claims…

Gsoc says taking action against two members would be moot, as both
now retired
An Garda Síochána failed in its duty to investigate allegations of
child sexual abuse made by two women against a priest in the Cloyne
diocese, the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission (Gsoc) has
found.

The allegations were made in the mid 1990s and related to incidents
that occurred in the late 1960s.

Gsoc said it decided taking action against the relevant gardaí was
“moot” as they are now retired and no longer amenable to the Garda
Síochána (Discipline) Regulations for Neglect of Duty.

The finding relates to the Cloyne report, published in July 2011,
which investigated the handling of clerical child sexual abuse
allegations there by church and State authorities. Chapter 10
indicated that Gardaí had not acted on information they had in
relation to allegations of sexual abuse by a Cloyne priest.

The Gsoc investigation into this, beginning in March 2012, set out
to establish whether it might involve an offence by Gardaí or if it
would justify disciplinary proceedings.

The Cloyne report provided pseudonyms for the victims, Nia and
Oifa, respectively, and the priest as Fr Corin. In Nia’s case,
despite her complaint of alleged sexual abuse being referred by
Cloyne diocese to Macroom Garda station in 1996, “no investigation
was directed, or conducted, by the receiving Garda.”

Oifa made similar allegations concerning the priest to gardaí at
Henry Street in Limerick, but there was no further action. Her
statement was taken by a female Garda at the request of a
colleague, since retired.

ANON Jul 24th, 2015 @ 12:31 PM

2/2...Lack of adherence…

Gsoc found that in both cases “no formal garda investigations took
place” and this was “mostly the result of a lack of adherence to
procedures and processes. There were also lapses in the creation
and proper retention of documents.”

While there was no evidence in either case that what “may have
constituted a criminal offence” on the part of relevant Gardaí took
place, “some actions may have justified disciplinary
proceedings”.

In the Macroom case it was clear “that the then District Officer
was the recipient of a complaint of historical child sexual abuse”
and that he “did not ensure a formal investigation of the
complaints referred to him.

“His actions may have amounted to a Neglect of Duty under the Garda
Síochána (Discipline) Regulations. However, as he is retired, he is
no longer subject to such regulations,” Gsoc said.

In the Limerick case it found “the Garda at Henry Street who
requested his female colleague to take a statement may have
committed an act, contrary to the Garda Síochána (Discipline)
Regulations, amounting to a Neglect of Duty.

“The evidence showed that a crime was reported to him but he did
not report that crime formally to his superiors. However, as he is
retired, he is no longer subject to such regulations.”

It found the female Garda was still serving but that “our
investigation does not reveal any evidence that she acted contrary
to the Garda Síochána (Discipline) Regulations.”

In general Gsoc concluded “there were failures of systems and
individuals.”

The fact the existence of the allegations was known to different
Gardaí at Marcoom and Henry Street in Limerick, and that they were
not investigated fully, “indicates that the Garda Síochána as an
organisation failed in its duty.”

It concluded that updated recommendations by the Garda Inspectorate
on handling such cases, “if followed, should mitigate the risk of a
repeat of this unsatisfactory set of circumstances.”

ANON Jul 24th, 2015 @ 12:27 PM

1/2...Theresa Villiers rejects Kincora abuse inquiry
request….

Northern Secretary Theresa Villiers has again rejected calls to
include Kincora boys’ home in an inquiry into an alleged paedophile
ring at Westminster, despite new British cabinet papers being
uncovered concerning the Belfast institute.

Ms Villiers said the discovery of the papers would not persuade the
British government to reconsider the decision to exclude the issue
of child sex abuse at Kincora from theWestminster inquiry being
conducted by New Zealand judge Lowell Goddard.

Amnesty and Northern Ireland political parties want Kincora
included in the Goddard inquiry, claiming that the HIA does not
have the power to compel the release of files from either the
British government or the British secret services.

There have been longstanding allegations that MI5 and the British
ministry of defence were complicit in covering up the abuse of boys
at Kincora in east Belfast during the 1970s.

It has been claimed that senior members of the British military,
politicians and civil servants who allegedly abused boys at Kincora
were effectively blackmailed by the British intelligence
services.

In 1981, three senior members of staff were jailed for abusing 11
boys in their care at the east Belfast home.

ANON Jul 24th, 2015 @ 12:26 PM

2/2...Amnesty call…

Amnesty repeated its call for the Goddard inquiry to incorporate
Kincora after new British government files relating to the home
were discovered.

Amnesty’s Northern Ireland programme director Patrick Corrigan said
the new files would only “fuel public disquiet that Kincora has
been excluded from the one inquiry which has a chance of getting at
the truth”.

“Nothing less than a full public inquiry with all the powers of
compulsion which that brings can finally reveal what happened at
Kincora,” he said.

Ms Villiers said the place to examine Kincora was at the HIA
inquiry. “The Hart inquiry is doing an exceptionally good
job.

“We feel that is the right forum to investigate these despicable
events which took place at Kincora,” she said.

The papers discovered included a file about former Northern Ireland
minister and Conservative MP Sir William Van Straubenzee, which
also “contained references to the Kincora boys’ home”.

The British cabinet office also said that, separate to Kincora, the
papers contain references to former cabinet minister Leon Brittan;
Peter Morrison, an aide to Margaret Thatcher; and ex-diplomat and
former deputy director of MI6, Sir Peter Hayman.

It also emerged from the documents that Margaret Thatcher’s
Conservative government was warned that an MP had a “penchant for
small boys” and that this risked causing it political
embarrassment.

The uncovered files show that former MI5 director general Sir
Antony Duff wrote to the then cabinet secretary Sir Robert
Armstrong in 1986 over claims made by two sources about the MP.

Senior British intelligence officers warned the Thatcher government
that allegations an MP had a “penchant for small boys” risked
causing it political embarrassment, newly uncovered documents have
revealed.

Child abuse investigators found no consideration had been given to
the threat to children the politician posed but MI5 warned senior
officials the accusations could be damaging for the
administration.

The files show former MI5 director general Sir Antony Duff wrote to
the then British cabinet secretary Sir Robert Armstrong in 1986
over claims made by two sources about the MP.

An assessment of the documents by Peter Wanless, head of the
National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC),
and Richard Whittam QC, who carried out an inquiry into the
handling of historical allegations that prominent figures were
child abusers, said: “There were a number of references across the
papers we saw that reinforced the observation we made in our review
that issues of crimes against children, particularly the rights of
the complainant, were given considerably less serious consideration
than would be expected today.

“To give one striking example, in response to claims from two
sources that a named member of parliament “has a penchant for small
boys” matters conclude with acceptance of his word that he does not
and the observation that ‘at the present stage the risks of
political embarrassment to the Government is rather greater than
the security danger’.

The risk to children is not considered at all.”

In a document published on the Government’s website, the Home
Office said a fresh search of the archives had been carried out
after a file emerged earlier this year that should have been
submitted to the Wanless and Whittam inquiry.

ANON Jul 24th, 2015 @ 12:20 PM

2/2...Former cabinet minister Leon Brittan, Peter Morrison, who
was an aide to Margaret Thatcher, ex-diplomat Sir Peter Hayman and
former minister William van Straubenzee were named in other top
secret files uncovered following the review.

One of the files relating to Sir Hayman was held by the Cabinet
Office but “overlooked” during a previous trawl for
information.

Documents that refer to Mr Straubenzee had been earmarked for
destruction but National Archives officials flagged them up to the
government.

A group of papers that name Mr Morrison, Mr Brittan, Sir Peter and
Mr Straubenzee as well as contain references to the Kincora
children’s home in

Northern Ireland where boys were abused were “found in a separate
Cabinet Office store of assorted and unstructured papers”.

Mr Wanless and Mr Whittam reported last year they had found no
evidence that records were deliberately removed or destroyed.

After examining the latest batch of documents, they said they
“found nothing to cause us to alter the conclusions drawn or
recommendations made in our review”.

But they warned the emergence of papers after the review had been
completed was not “helpful” in giving the public confidence in the
process.

They said the latest discovery, which came to light earlier this
year, showed the need for a broader search of documents
“unconstrained by what the Home Office in particular might or might
not have known”.

New Zealand High Court judge Lowell Goddard, who is heading an
inquiry into historical child sex abuse, is set to start again from
scratch.

An NSPCC spokesman said: “This is a clear illustration, as the
original review revealed, of the misplaced priorities of those
operating at highest levels of government, where people simply
weren’t thinking about crimes against children and the consequences
of those crimes in the way that we would expect them to.

It reiterates the need for an inquiry that will explore this in
depth.”

ANON Jul 24th, 2015 @ 12:18 PM

1/2...Kincora whistleblower Richard Kerr has claimed that he met
one of Britain's most senior spymasters in the notorious home where
children were abused…

He left Northern Ireland under a cloud of sexual innuendo two years
later.

A closet homosexual, he was accused of making a pass at a man in
the bar of the Old Crow Inn in Comber, but no charges were ever
brought and his friends said it was black propaganda by
intelligence rivals while the police denied dealing with any
complaint.

Mr Kerr says he was never abused by Sir Maurice, but linking him to
Kincora will add fuel to the rumours that intelligence knew of the
scandal and hushed it up because the abusers were giving
information to the intelligence services.

Two former military intelligence officers, Colin Wallace and Brian
Gemmell, told how they had tried to expose the scandal but were
warned off by a named MI5 officer.

On Wednesday Sir Maurice, the basis of the character of George
Smiley in John Le Carre's classic spy novels, was named in papers
handed over by Number 10 to Sir

Anthony Hart's inquiry into institutional child abuse here.

The latest revelations will add to pressure for the inquiry to be
combined with the Goddard probe in London, which has more powers to
subpoena intelligence witnesses.

The papers deal with Mr Wallace's allegations and name other people
including former ministers William van Straubenzee and Leon Brittan
as well as civil servants Peter Hayman and Peter Morris.

Sir Maurice was a former head of both MI5, the Security Service
and, until 1978, MI6, the Secret Intelligence Service, which
organises British agents for use abroad.

He died of cancer in 1981.

His period in Northern Ireland corresponded with a turf war between
the two agencies.

A former SIS officer said "it more or less ended in 1979 when
Maurice handed over control of agents to MI5 and the police".

ANON Jul 24th, 2015 @ 12:15 PM

2/2...Mr Kerr was in Kincora from 1975 at the age of 14. The
boys care home was the subject of a high-profile child sex abuse
scandal in the 1980s.

Three senior staff were jailed in 1981 for abusing 11 boys in their
care. Those convicted were the warden Joseph Mains, his assistant
Raymond Semple, and Kincora's housefather William McGrath.

Earlier this year, Mr Kerr told the Belfast Telegraph that, while a
resident at Kincora, he was once sent home from school early
because the heating wasn't working.

When he went into the office he found Mr Mains, his principal
abuser, and Semple in a meeting with other men.

It struck him that they might be government officials because some
were well-dressed and spoke with English accents.

In April he told us that he had recognised one of the men as Mr
Oldfield after studying photographs.

"It seemed like a meeting, they were annoyed I had walked in on it.
Mr Mains sent me upstairs," he said.

It is now known that notorious paedophile McGrath was an
intelligence agent and that a paramilitary group he set up, Tara,
was a front for intelligence gathering on loyalism.

He had first come in contact with MI5 when smuggling bibles into
the Soviet Union in the 1950s.

He also operated an Orange Lodge, now defunct, called Ireland's
Heritage.

Yesterday, Secretary of State Theresa Villiers insisted the inquiry
should not be moved to England despite the mounting pressure from
Amnesty International and all the Executive parties.

She said: "Like everyone else we want to ensure that the truth is
discovered, that these events are fully investigated and we believe
that the Hart inquiry is the best forum to do that."

ANON Jul 24th, 2015 @ 12:11 PM

Copy and
Paste...http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/newton-kincoras-exclusion-from-ukwide-child-abuse-inquiry-unforgivable-31401367.html

ANON Jul 23rd, 2015 @ 01:35 PM

1/3...GSOC finds Garda failings in handling abuse claims…

A report by the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission into the
handling by Gardaí of allegations of child sexual abuse, which were
raised in the Cloyne Report in 2011, has found evidence of failures
on the part of the Gardaí.

However, the GSOC report says no offences appear to have been
committed by Gardaí, and it is not recommending any disciplinary
action.

The Commission of Investigation Report into the Catholic Diocese of
Cloyne in 2011 outlined evidence given to the inquiry which
indicated that Gardaí did not act on information received in
relation to complaints of sexual abuse in the diocese.

GSOC launched a public interest investigation in March 2012 to
establish whether these matters may have constituted an offence by
members of the Gardaí or whether they justified disciplinary
proceedings.

The GSOC investigation focused on the handling of allegations made
by two victims in relation to one priest.

GSOC has said its investigation found some possible explanations as
to why formal investigations were not conducted by Gardaí into
serious allegations of sexual abuse.

However, it said while evidence suggests some failures on the part
of the Gardaí, no offences appear to have been committed and no
disciplinary proceedings were being recommended.

ANON Jul 23rd, 2015 @ 01:32 PM

2/3...The GSOC investigation examined whether or not a proper
investigation took place in the case of two victims who made
allegations of sexual abuse in relation to the same priest.

The victims were given the pseudonyms Nia and Oifa in the Cloyne
Report, and the priest was given the pseudonym Fr Corin.

The Cloyne Report outlined that in 1994 and 1996 Nia made
allegations to a Catholic bishop regarding sexual abuse by Fr Corin
in the late 1960s.

The claims were referred to Macroom Garda Station in Cork, but no
further action was taken.

The then District Officer of Macroom Garda Station acknowledged
receipt of a report of historical child sexual abuse, but did not
direct a crime investigation.

The GSOC report said he contended that he assumed an investigation
had commenced, but its investigation has shown that that assumption
was unfounded.

A second victim, Oifa, made very similar allegations relating to
the same priest to the Mid Western Health Board.

Gardaí from Henry Street in Limerick took a statement from her but
there was no further action.

The GSOC report found its investigation and the Cloyne commission
evidence both showed that a Health Board notification form was
issued by the Mid Western Health Board and was later in the
possession of the Southern Health Board.

However, the Health Board notification was unsigned and no evidence
exists that it was actually sent to its intended recipient, the
then Superintendent at Henry Street Garda Station.

ANON Jul 23rd, 2015 @ 01:30 PM

3/3...The GSOC report found there was a lack of a policy on the
part of the Health Board in addressing historical child sexual
abuse allegations and, notably, no policy in relation to notifying
the Garda Síochána.

The then District Officer at Henry Street Garda Station in Limerick
was unaware of the allegations and a formal investigation was not
conducted by Henry Street Gardaí.

The GSOC report found a statement was reportedly taken from the
victims, but this cannot now be located and there is some dispute
as to the motivation and authority for it being taken in the first
place.

The GSOC report states that it is understood the victim was related
by marriage to a Garda who requested a colleague to take the
statement, however this action was not part of a formal
investigation.

The GSOC report said the statement cannot be located by any of
those involved, and that these matters remain unsatisfactorily
unresolved.

The report states that there were failures of systems and
individuals in relation to the handling of the allegations.

The report found that existence of these allegations was known to
different individual Gardaí in Macroom in Co Cork and in Henry
Street in Limerick.

It said that the fact that these allegations were known to gardaí
and not investigated formally indicates that the Garda Síochána as
an organisation failed in its duty.

The report found that while there was evidence to suggest two
officers may have been in breach of the Garda Síochána (Discipline)
Regulations for Neglect of Duty, both are now retired and therefore
no longer amenable to these.

GSOC cannot make findings of fact in relation to a breach of the
regulations, but can make recommendations to the Garda Commissioner
on disciplinary proceedings.

However the GSOC report found that due to the retirement of those
concerned, these recommendations are moot.

ANON Jul 23rd, 2015 @ 11:55 AM

1/2...An MI5 letter warning of the risk of "political
embarrassment" from child sexual abuse claims has been
found…..

A 1986 note by then head of MI5, Sir Anthony Duff - followed
warnings an MP had a "penchant for small boys".